Veteran Michael Johnson has earned his farewell at Fremantle

Walters finishes his teammates' work

Walters finishes his teammates' work

VideoMichael Walters snaps around the body as Freo capitalise on an Essendon turnover.

On a day which summed up Fremantle at the moment - they had a crack, but weren’t good enough to get it done - a veteran whose career looked over showed he may have one final effort to give.

Michael Johnson wasn’t even in the team until Sean Darcy pulled out during the warm-up, but thrown in as a forward-ruck for the first time in a long time, he was able to give the Dockers something they sorely needed - a bit of experience in the front half.

And it wasn’t just experience and stability he offered.

The 33-year-old finished the 29-point loss as one of the Dockers’ better players and arguably their best forward - kicking two goals and dishing off another two from his 16 disposals and five marks in a game which saw plenty of his teammates offer a contest, but few mark cleanly.

Like most rebuilds, the Dockers began theirs in the backline and are slowly making their way up the field.

The regular defenders they put out there against the Bombers - Alex Pearce, Joel Hamling, Nathan Wilson, Luke Ryan - will form the core of their back six for the foreseeable future, and it was the desire to test other players like Taylin Duman in the position which saw Johnson dropped back to the WAFL in the first place.

The midfield is slowly taking care of itself with youngsters like Adam Cerra, Andrew Brayshaw and Bailey Banfield learning off leaders like Nat Fyfe and Lachie Neale.

It’s the forward line which is the problem.

Camera IconJohnson’s influence was massive.Picture: AFL Media

With Fyfe sidelined through injury David Mundy and Michael Walters have had to spend more time in the midfield, robbing the forward line of a steadying presence around young players like Brennan Cox, Cam McCarthy and Stefan Giro.

Johnson stood up to take that role against the Bombers. While it wasn’t enough to get the team over the line, it still proved a valuable selection, even if it was very late in the process.

In confirming his likely retirement last week, Dockers coach Ross Lyon said he would consider a farewell game for Johnson later this season.

On the strength of his game against the Bombers, the 240-game veteran won’t have to count on charity at the selection table, he’s found a role again and earned the farewell.